ThunderClan's Fall
by Fantastic Cello
Summary: When Firestar is brutally killed by the Clan Deputy, ThunderClan falls to the leadership of Brambleclaw and the once-great Clan is thrown in to ruin. Will one cat be able to stop him, or is ThunderClan doomed to a fate of Blood and Murder?
1. The Conquering

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Warriors.

Hi everyone!

I am doing another story that I started in the car going home from the airport and I actually liked it so I decided that I would post it. Yes but here it is and I hope you enjoy it!

Please read and review etc :)

Abby xoxo

* * *

Firestar leapt on top of the Highledge and yowled the age-old words to summon his Clan. As the Cats of ThunderClan gathered below him, he started to speak. "Brambleclaw," he began hesitantly, "is a traitor." There were gasps from below. "We heard him plotting with Hawkfrost about taking over ThunderClan. After Hawkfrost tried to kill me, you all noticed Brambleclaw's strange behaviour? He began to feel a dangerous emotion; _regret. _He began to think on what he could do as ruler of the Clan, and eventually the whole forest. He is a cold-blooded murderer, and I will warn you now: He will stop at nothing to gain power. Do not trust him."

"_Brambleclaw?"_

"He can't be!"

"There's got to be a mistake!"

Firestar yowled to silence the stupefied Clan. "Quiet! There isn't much time. We think Brambleclaw has seen us. I say these words before the spirits of StarClan, so that they may hear and approve my choice. Brambleclaw is no longer the Deputy of ThunderClan. The new Deputy will be-"

The cats were so fixated on Firestar that none of them noticed the huge, dark-brown tabby Warrior slink through the thorn-barrier and in to the camp. As Firestar was about to announce the name of the new Clan Deputy, he leaped up next to Firestar and pinned him down. "You have been Leader too long, kittypet. You are too soft, too forgiving. I will kill you, and claim my Clan. We will kill all of the other Clans, and _I_ will rule the forest!"

Jayfeather realized what he had to do. He exchanged a barely noticeable nod with Firestar and gulped. The blind medicine cat knew that his Clan would hate him, but once they knew the truth… He cats the thoughts aside to realise that barely a second had passed. He began to yowl loudly and cheer for the murderous Clan Deputy, and the rest of the Clan looked outraged. Cats gasped and they all gave him a look like they wanted to rip out his throat. Jayfeather swallowed nervously. Brambleclaw probably wouldn't stop them. After all, he supported murder.

He tried desperately to portray what he was doing through his eyes, but nocat seemed to notice what he was trying to do. Jayfeather tried not to worry, but he knew that his Clan would try and kill him if he was alone, so it was essential that he gained Brambleclaw's trust and was given a guard as soon as possible. He hesitated. Did he really want to get in to this? He knew that even if he did convince the Clan, Firestar would still be dead and the Clan would still be sceptical and wary of him. After all, he had cheered for a _murderer._ The Clan weren't going to let that go too quickly.

But he had to try. And if he didn't try, ThunderClan would be doomed to living with a murderous Clan leader who killed for fun; who didn't care who was killed; who would do _anything at all _for power.

Brambleclaw stopped manically laughing and turned to Firestar. "You're going _down, _kittypet!"

"Goodbye, my loyal clan. I'll look down on you from StarClan and do all that I can to help you. Be strong and be brave, for you are ThunderClan."

Brambleclaw looked down at Firestar with a look of scorn upon his face. "Goodbye, O pathetic leader."

He unsheathed his huge claws and the Clan gasped. They were like tigers claws, and Jayfeather knew that they would be able to tear through anything.

_Just like Tigerstar, _Jayfeather thought with a jolt.

Brambleclaw raised his paw above his head and gave a yowl, raking his claws down Firestar's belly. Firestar winced, but other than that and a faint moan he gave no other signs that he was in pain.

Jayfeather wanted to run and help the Clan Leader, and he gave him a look that said so, but he knew that if he did his plan would be ruined. So he remained still, feelings of sadness and loss welling up inside him as fast as blood welled out of his Leader. He admired how much Firestar loved his Clan. He was willing to suffer through all of this pain for them.

"Die!" Brambleclaw flipped Firestar over and sunk his teeth in to the back of his neck, hard. Firestar couldn't stand it this time and yowled, before his eyes glazed over and he slumped to the ground, dead. Sandstorm gave a screech of utter despair and ran towards her dead mate, but Brambleclaw raised an unsheathed claw and she backed off, whimpering.

"There. Now that we're rid of the kittypet, this Clan will be strong, like my father intended it to be."

He started to order cats to do things for him: Hunt, make him a luxury nest, fetch him water, he wanted everything. If they refused, he killed them.

Jayfeather tried not to look sad and marched up to Brambleclaw. "Heh heh heh," he laughed, "what stupid cats."

"I know," Brambleclaw sighed, "but with a bit of a whipping, I'll get them in to shape."

The Medicine Cat tried not to flinch, but thankfully Brambleclaw didn't notice. "You should get your nine lives tonight." The medicine cat said, "Would you like me to come?"

Brambleclaw shook his head. "I don't need help."

"Well at least let me give you some healing herbs, my Leader." Replied Jayfeather, bowing his head low.

Brambleclaw seemed to like this. "Good. I like the way you think. Keep doing things like that and you can be my Deputy."

"I would be honoured." Jayfeather murmured, trying not to vomit.

Brambleclaw had left the camp to receive his name and nine lives, and Jayfeather knew that this was his only chance to explain his plan to the remaining cats.

He leaped up on to the Highledge and summoned the Clan, keeping his voice low so that Brambleclaw wouldn't hear.

"Listen. Listen! _Listen!" _He had to yowl as ThunderClan advanced on him with claws unsheathed. It took a while to get them to settle down, and Jayfeather began to get nervous. What if the Clan killed him? There would be no way then of ThunderClan overthrowing him because he knew that they all hated him. "I have a plan. I'm going to pretend to worship Brambleclaw so that he trusts me. I'll find out how to kill him and relay everything I find out back to you. We only have one chance, so we can't screw this up. You'll need to pretend to hate him still or he'll know something's going on. "

Finally, the cats of ThunderClan seemed to get what he was saying. They had a chance of killing him! His spirits lifted and he looked up at the shimmering stars above him. _He has no supporters, _Jayfeather thought, _we can kill him nine times over._

Suddenly, Jayfeather heard rushing pawsteps. _Brambleclaw! _How could he be back so soon? Barely any time had passed! The moon was still rising. Jayfeather looked up at it and his heart faltered. It was almost sunrise! How could time have passed that fast? Then Jayfeather realised. It was the height of Greenleaf and the days were short. Also, it had taken the Medicine Cat a long time to convince the Clan that he wasn't a cold-blooded killer.

"Quick! He's coming! I'm going to wing it here, so play along and act like you did before, alright?"

The cats all nodded nervously. A few of them seemed relieved that he wasn't a traitor; but some still looked wary of him.

Right before Brambleclaw burst through the thorn barrier, Jayfeather launched his speech, pretending he was mid-way through so he wouldn't suspect anything.

"- if we all work together, ThunderClan _will _be great. With a leader like Bramblestar we will be able to drive out the other Clans and rule the forest!"

The cats all yowled, but in disagreement. Jayfeather sighed in relief; they were playing along.

"Do you not realize the opportunities here?" Yowled Jayfeather. "ThunderClan will _rule!" _

Brambleclaw leaped up on to the Highledge. "I am impressed, Jayfeather. You have made the right choice in joining me."

Jayfeather bowed his head again and purred his pretend thanks.

"I have been to the Moonpool and I have received my nine lives. My name is now Bramblestar. If you do not call me by that name, I will kill you."

The cats of the Clan turned and shuffled back to where they had been doing tasks for Brambleclaw.

"I am glad you have received your nine lives, Bramblecl- Bramblestar. Now the Clan will realize that StarClan agrees with your leadership. ThunderClan was led by a kittypet, not a Warrior."

"Yes," Brambleclaw murmured, staring in to the distance, "Yes, that's right."

Jayfeather leaped down from the Highleadge and turned to leave.

"Jayfeather?" It was Brambleclaw.

"Yes?"

"Thankyou for supporting me. The Clan will soon join us, and we _will _rule."

"Yes, Bramblestar. Of course." Jayfeather smirked to himself.

_You can only wish, Brambleclaw, you can only wish._

* * *

Thanks for reading!

A huge thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, subscribed, and added me and/or my fanfic(s) to their favourites! I really appreciate it guys, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Abby xoxo


	2. The Prophecy

**Note: **Sorry I haven't updated lately! I hope you'll forgive me. I'll try to make this one really good.

Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, subscribes and favourites! If you've read previous chapters you'll know that I'm grateful :)

Abby xo

* * *

Camp had changed. It used to be a friendly place, and while it was in a ravine, it was still friendly and- it felt like _home. S_unlight was able to filter through the bushes at the top of the cliff and often there would be butterflies and insects flitting around the place. All the cats would be chatting animatedly as they left or returned from a Patrol, and there was just a happy atmosphere to everything.

Now, things were different. The ravine was a prison, and if you tried to escape, it meant death. For Brambleclaw, there was no forgiving, no regret. Just the emotionless action of slitting a cats throat. No happiness eisted, there was simply a cloud of despair hanging over the ravine. It was like the world had been reversed, like everything they loved had been lost. Cats had taken things for granted, and now all of that was lost. They didn't even know if they would get it back.

The memories that swirled around, some bringing hope, others shredding them as they echoed through with hoplessness were all ripped away as the gray cat was suddenly dragged back to real life.

* * *

Jayfeather staggered back in shock. Brambleclaw had just brutally slaughtered the Dark-Cream she-cat, who lay on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood. Mousewhisker, Hazeltail and Berrynose crouched down next to their mother, pressing their muzzles in to her blood-stained fur for the last time.

Brambleclaw laughed, standing on the Highledge and staring down at the petrified Clan below him. He glanced at Jayfeather, who remembered just in time that Brambleclaw thought he was on his side, with a wicked grin. The blind tabby felt a wave of sadness, panic and anger rolling around the ravine, and the fact that he had to pretend to worship Brambleclaw caused him great distress.

As their supposed leader jumped down from the Highledge, Jayfeather walked over to Daisy and rolled her over with one gray tabby paw. She had a huge gash in her throat that was surrounded by clotting blood. He gingerly picked her up with his scruff and took her out of the ravine to bury her, guessing that Mousefur and Purdy wanted no part in picked up the blood-soaked she-cat.

As he got back to camp, Jayfeather saw that Brambleclaw was mad. He towered over Mousefur, glaring down at her with amber eyes that looked like the eyes of a twoleg monster. "- stupid thing to do, done by a stupid cat." Mousefur meowed huffily.

"Say that again." Brambleclaw hissed menacingly.

Mousefur sighed. "I said, killing Daisy was a stupid thing to do, done by a stupid cat!"

Brambleclaw leaned closer until he was a mousetail-length from the old cat's face. "Well you know what stupid thing you just did?"

Mousefur looked impatient. "What did I do, O Mighty Leader?" She mewed in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You questioned my actions!" His voice rose to a screech before dropping to barely a whisper. "And do you know what I do to Cats who question me?"

"I can hardly guess!" Mousefur snapped at him.

"I kill them."

Mousefur's eyes widened in shock for barely a millisecond before she resumed her calm look. "Well," she said, "I'm no threat to you, and I'm no benefit to the Clan. So I don't really care what you do."

The huge tabby tom looked annoyed for a brief moment. He had been stuck, and mousefur was right; killing her wouldn't do anyhting beneficial. "Well, then. If killing you won't do anything, I'll just kill Purdy instead!"

Mousefur gaped in shock. "No! Don't kill him! Kill me!"

Purdy looked up from the piece of rock he was trying to devour, "What? When are the snails arriving?"

Brambleclaw looked over at the elderly tom. "No, no snails. I'm going to kill you, that's all."

Purdy nodded. "Ok, but tell the snails where I am. They get worried if I'm not there." He bent down and started trying to eat the rock again, occasionally grunting when it cut his mouth.

The brutal cat played along with this charade. "Yes. Yes, of course. Now, how would you prefer I kill you? Quickly, or would you rather I _drag it out?" _He spoke the last words in a slick tone, dangerously soft and wrapped in malice.

Purdy looked thoughtful, obviously not understanding what Brambleclaw was saying. "I don't mind, as long as the snails know where I am."

Brambleclaw looked at him. "Fine. In order to scare your friend Mousefur, I'm going to come up and kill you at any random moment. I will give you no warning. I'll walk up behind you and kill you."

The old cat looked at Brambleclaw. "I said I don't mind. If the snails know I'm here, then that's fine. Now please let me finish this squirrel!"

Mousefur suddenly recovered from her shock enough to say something. "Don't do it, Purdy!"

Brambleclaw grinned evilly at her. "I'm afraid he has no choice. You chose to disrespect me, now you will both pay the price. Now, begone."

ThunderClan was quick to scatter, all of the cats simultaneously deciding to go on patrols at once.

"And before you try to run away, I have spies located around the territory. And if you try to escape, they will kill you. In fact, no cat can go on a patrol today. You can starve."

All of the cats shifted their eyes to the fresh kill pile, which only held a Squirrel, a Vole and a scrawny Blackbird. Some cats wriggled awkwardly, not knowing which cats would get fresh-kill and which cats would go hungry.

Brambleclaw looked around the whole camp, before his eyes laid to rest on a light brown she-cat with darker flecks and olive green eyes sitting in a corner, hidden by a shadow from the Highrock.

"And you will be next." He said to her in a voice layered with malice.

* * *

It was almost Moonhigh, and in an untouched corner of StarClan, a tiny Pool lay in a clearing. The water didn't move, no winds blew, there was no light and no evidence that the secluded place was real and not an illusion. A Robin flew out of a tree and flew low over the Pool. For the first time ever, the water in the tiny Pool rippled. And just like that, the bird was gone.

Far away from that location, two Cats were facing a pool that was a mirror-image of the other.

"But there's nothing we _can _do." The broad-faced she-cat growled, "StarClan never planned for this to happen, they have to sort it out themselves."

_"No." _The blue-gray cat hissed. "There has to be a way we can help. I will stop at nothing to stop him from murdering my Clan."

A cat with a flame-coloured pelt emerged from the shadows. "There is nothing we can do, Bluestar. They have to fend for themselves until we think of a way to help."

"They might not even last that long! Cats have been slaughtered already, he kills them for no reason!"

"Then we will have to pray that they last until it ends. Come; nothing more can be done."

As the former ThunderClan leaders turned to leave, they heard a voice echo from the shadows.

_" Like Lightning to the Thunder, Robin will weaken Brambles hold."_

As the last word escaped her mouth, she crumpled to the ground and stopped moving.

And somewhere, in that forgotten corner of StarClan, the Moon's reflection hit the tiny pool, lighting up the Clearing with a dazzling shade of blue.

* * *

**What will happen next? Who is the Cat Brambleclaw is planning to kill? Who dies? What does the prophecy mean? Why am I asking you all these questions?**

**Find out next time I actually get on my butt to update!**

**Anyway, thanks for reading etc and sorry I don't update very much, I am lazy :)**


	3. The Note From The Author

**Hi everyone :)**

**You may wonder what this is all about, so I'll tell you. That was actually the reason I made this 'chapter', so I don't know why the heck I'm telling you **_**that.**_

**Moving on.**

**I'm having serious writers block with this Fic right now so I've decided to put it on hiatus while I finish Hollyleaf's Short Fuse. You can read that if you want to, it's currently the only other fanfic I have going at the moment. I'm slow at updating lol :/ Not very fun for you guys.**

**Just to clear anything up, I AM NOT STOPPING WRITING THIS FIC. I am simply putting it on hold for a while until my Writer's Block has passed, and I've finished Hollyleaf's Short Fuse.**

**I hope this doesn't annoy any of you (I doubt it will but you never know) and sorry if it does :(**

**Thanks for understanding and I'll try to get back on track really soon (so in like 3 months, judging by my definitions of "really soon" lol).**

**Thanks, and I'm really sorry :(**

**Abby xoxo**


End file.
